1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to luggage adapted for hanging support, and in particular to garment bags.
2. Description of the Related Art
With increasingly busy schedules, travellers are continually seeking improvements in luggage, especially luggage of the type personally carried by the traveler. One type of such luggage in popular use today is commonly referred to as a garment bag. This type of luggage is typically soft-sided or flexible and is vertically elongated to accommodate a full length garment, such as a dress or full length coat. The garment bag is folded in half for carrying, such that both top and bottom ends are made to point downwardly, and a handle installed in the middle of the bag is pointed in an upward direction for carrying. The garment bag is loaded and unloaded by unfolding the bag to its vertically elongated configuration.
A hook is provided at the top end of the bag, typically connected to the bag by a chain or other flexible member. The hook is adapted to engage a clothes rack, the top of an interior door or other conventional supporting structure that a traveler might find in a hotel room, for example. Garments and other articles are then inserted within the garment bag, and are typically hung inside the bag, from its top end. The garment bag is then closed, as with a zipper, and folded in half, thereby made ready for travel. However, the top end of the garment bag, and hence the hook-type hanger, is pointed downward, close to the ground as a traveler walks from place to place. There is the likelihood that a dangling hook may become unintentionally engaged with an article in the surrounding environment. While it is desirable that such inconvenient occurrences be avoided, the hook-type hanger has proven to be very popular for loading and unloading the garment bag.